Gossip is “a plague worse than COVID,” Pope Francis said, asserting that while speaking ill of others comes almost naturally, it is a tool of the devil to divide the church.

Archbishop William E. Lori ordained five men to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Baltimore: Fathers Zachary Crowley, Brendan Fitzgerald, Justin Gough, Evan Ponton and Jeremy Smith.

The lives and spirituality of the Redemptorists were woven into the ordination Mass for Bishop Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., a member of the international religious order whose founder told his confrères they should resist honors and any higher episcopal roles.

Archbishop William E. Lori celebrated a vespers service on the eve of the ordination of Bishop Bruce A. Lewansdowski, C.Ss.R., Aug. 17 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.

“I don’t believe that requiring gun registration and background checks is infringing on someone’s liberties,” Bishop Madden told CNS. “Some of the language hurled in these debates is disturbing to me, because it seems to discount the value of the lives lost to gun violence.”

During the week-long outreach, 33 volunteers worked at five job sites including a home in New Windsor.

Lebanese were reeling after a massive explosion at Beirut’s port destroyed homes, businesses and livelihoods across the capital, and Catholic leaders immediately took action and called for international support.

Pope Francis said he was saddened after a Turkish court ruled to revert the iconic Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque.

Decrying the unimaginable “hell” migrants experience in detention centers, Pope Francis urged all Christians to examine how they do or don’t help — as Jesus commanded — the people God has placed in their path.

True believers do not condemn people for their sins or shortcomings but intercede on their behalf with God through prayer, Pope Francis said.